


The Rookie

by HMSquared



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canonical Character Death, Character Study, Dialogue Light, Episode: s03e07 The Perfect Mark, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Murder, Redemption, Spoilers, Time Skips, Trust Issues, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:49:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25158775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HMSquared/pseuds/HMSquared
Summary: Carter imparted one lesson on Laskey: learn to read the room.
Relationships: Joss Carter & Mike Laskey
Kudos: 5





	The Rookie

**Author's Note:**

> Laskey is one of those minor characters that I fell in love with. I absolutely agree with his fate, I don’t think he would’ve realistically survived. At the same time, I wish we could’ve seen more of him.
> 
> This isn’t really a fix-it, but more of a what-if. There are heavy spoilers for Season 3 onward, so think carefully before reading!
> 
> Enjoy!

“I knew you were weak.” Laskey and Carter jumped, the latter turning around. Terney was in the doorway, gun drawn. He glowered at the rookie. “You couldn’t resist her, huh?”

“Back up, Terney,” Carter snarled. Laskey remained frozen, hands in the air.

He was scared for himself and her. He wanted so badly to draw his gun and fire at Terney. But Carter taught Laskey one thing: read the room.

Terney pivoted and she pulled the trigger. Laskey snapped out of it to find Carter kneeling, muttering something. She froze, then stood up.

“I know who the head of HR is.”

“Thank you.” The words slipped up, and Laskey felt his face going red. To his surprise, Carter nodded.

“You’re welcome.”

Things quickly went to hell after that. Carter went on a crusade to bring down Quinn, the mastermind of HR. The city entered a blackout and Laskey was told to keep an eye on the roads.

Simmons still trusted him. Terney’s death was quiet, and besides, he was supposedly a witness. When anyone asked, Laskey said he got there after the fact.

He eventually got a text from her. Simmons was long gone, which should have tipped Laskey off but didn’t.

_ Got Quinn. Meet me at the subway. _

**_Are you okay?_ **

_ My boyfriend’s here. _

Laskey chuckled to himself. Carter always referred to Reese as her boyfriend since he couldn’t know his name. They weren’t dating, both harboring the deaths of other people.

Throwing on his jacket, Laskey headed outside. There was something in the air.

He was across the street when it happened. Carter had Quinn in her custody, Reese trailing. Laskey slipped his hands into his pockets, watching them.

Simmons came out of nowhere. Guns were drawn, shots were fired. Quinn disappeared in the chaos, Laskey covering his face. Then he pulled away just in time to watch Carter fall.

She tumbled to the pavement with an unceremonious thump. Reese held her, comforting his friend. Laskey watched the light leave Carter’s eyes and felt tears slip down his cheek.

A nearby payphone started ringing. Reese looked up, and Laskey remained still.

Carter’s body was left undisturbed. After Reese left, he jogged toward her.

Laskey’s hands shook. He’d never actually touched a corpse before. Carter had been a friend and mentor to him, a woman he’d started to trust. She was just...gone now.

He found her cellphone. There was a blocked number; feeling reckless, Laskey called it.

“Detective Carter?” The voice on the other end sounded wildly confused.

“I want to help.”

A funeral was held, of course. Laskey sat next to Fusco and watched the pastor speak. At the end of it, he turned and saw Finch.

Reese (that was his name, Laskey learned) went missing. More bodies started piling up. Simmons made himself scarce, the most hated man in New York.

Laskey tried to help. Finch had him ask around in HR, Fusco on his tail. None of them trusted him yet.

Reese and Quinn eventually turned up dead, taken by a murder-suicide. Fusco took down Simmons, sparing him in Carter’s honor.

After that, Laskey started helping with the numbers. Shaw scared him, though not like Carter. He kept his mouth shut and actually tried to learn.

They nearly lost a couple. Those haunted him the most. But Laskey started to learn the pattern and took down a corrupt governor. He worked on his aim, visiting the shooting range with Fusco.

A group called Vigilance popped up. The city fell into another blackout and Finch was captured. He mentioned something called the Machine, to Laskey’s utter confusion.

Then it turned out even Vigilance was a pawn. Their masters were a man named Greer and his Decima associates. The team was forced into hiding, abandoning the library Laskey had just begun to call home.

He stayed on the force with Fusco. They were occasionally visited by Root, who was getting her own missions. The numbers kept going.

More bodies piled up. Shaw was taken and rescued, Root and Elias were killed. Laskey found himself taking the brunt of the numbers. All to stop Decoma and their monster Samaritan.

He eventually realized what was coming. All of the deaths had been a sign. A sign of Laskey’s own demise.

He had to install a virus to kill Samaritan. Which meant walking onto a roof in plain view of Decima.

Laskey put on one of Reese’s vests and prepared himself.

The first few shots didn’t hurt. His ears clogged and his knees buckled.

Laskey could hear them calling his name. He could see Carter, saving him from Terney. He wasn’t the hero she deserved (hell, no one deserved him), but he’d tried.

Laskey’s body lit up in a spray of red liquid and white hot pain. He fell, not as the hero John Reese or the mastermind Detective Carter, but rather a man trying to make peace with himself.


End file.
